The 12th Annual Plymouth County Waterfowl Survey (better known as the duck count) was held on November 20, 2021. This was my first year leading this event, which had previously been run by Joe Scott. Many thanks to Joe for setting up this event and for all your hard work over the last several years!
We had 35 participants who split up into teams to cover all of
the major freshwater ponds in Plymouth County. Thank you to everyone who
participated and thanks to Pete, Lisa, Kathy, and Nate for your help recruiting and
organizing the teams.
We had a clear, calm day with a high of 44°F.
We’ve had very few cold days so far this year, so none of the ponds have frozen
over yet. This can sometimes lead to lower numbers for the count, as freezing
temperatures in northern New England or further inland can push ducks into our
milder area. However, overall numbers for many species this year were pretty
close to our long-term averages since the count began in 2010.
In addition to the usual species, we also had a few uncommon
sightings this year. The Northwest team found 3 Northern Shovelers on Furnace Pond.
This species was a lifer for Bonnie and also a first for me in my hometown of
Pembroke. We also found a Common Goldeneye X Hooded Merganser on Great Sandy
Bottom Pond. This makes 5 years in a row that this beautiful and unusual hybrid
has been in the area.
 |
| Northern Shovelers by Bonnie Tate |
The Marion Water Treatment Plant is under construction currently,
but Carol got special permission to visit and found a Blue-winged Teal. Hank
and Jill found a Greater White-fronted Goose at the Vaughan Hill Rd fields in
Rochester. They credited a pair of Bald Eagles with scaring it into the water
so it could be included in our official tally. A Cackling Goose had also been
reported in that area recently, but it was absent on the day of the count.
 |
| Greater White-fronted Goose by Hank Levesque |
Glenn and Ernie found a White-winged Scoter on Assawompsett
Pond. Any sea ducks are unusual for this event, as we only cover freshwater
ponds, but we do occasionally get a scoter or Long-tailed Duck on some of the
largest ponds.
The tally was held virtually this year via Zoom. Several
participants dialed in to go over the highlights for each team, review the
final numbers, and swap stories. Hopefully we can get back to doing an
in-person tally next year.
The full list of waterfowl species for this year is below:
|
Greater White-fronted Goose |
1 |
|
Canada Goose |
1,391 |
|
Mute Swan |
295 |
|
Wood Duck |
5 |
|
Gadwall |
160 |
|
American Wigeon |
83 |
|
American Black Duck |
206 |
|
Mallard |
1,315 |
|
Blue-winged Teal |
1 |
|
Northern Shoveler |
3 |
|
Northern Pintail |
6 |
|
Green-winged Teal |
82 |
|
Ring-necked Duck |
766 |
|
Greater Scaup |
95 |
|
Lesser Scaup |
59 |
|
Scaup sp |
72 |
|
Bufflehead |
647 |
|
Common Goldeneye |
127 |
|
Hooded Merganser |
373 |
|
Common Merganser |
97 |
|
Ruddy Duck |
100 |
|
White-winged Scoter |
1 |
|
Common Loon |
3 |
|
Pied-billed Grebe |
42 |
|
Horned Grebe |
6 |
|
American Coot |
28 |
|
Total Ducks |
4,222 |
|
Total Waterfowl |
5,988 |
Thanks again to all participants and the team captains!
Brian Vigorito